Officials in Colorado are taking up arms to combat the plague of drivers littering highways throughout the state with human waste.

The problem has escalated to the point that state officials are proposing a new law to crack down on offending truckers and other drivers. The Colorado Department of Transportation expects a bill to greatly stiffen penalties will be introduced during the legislative session that begins in January.

Currently, chucking a bottle of urine onto a highway shoulder can carry a littering fine as low as $35, The Denver Post reported. New legislation would likely boost the penalty for littering to $500.

The state is also working to enclose the cabs of CDOT lawn-mowing equipment so workers will be shielded from the spray of exploding bottles of urine when mower blades chew up the containers.

Truck driver Jim Mathews says the waste-disposal problem is obvious.

Mathews, an OOIDA board member and Greeley, CO, resident, has seen a lot of discarded bottles with the telltale yellow liquid.

“You don’t have to look very hard to find 15 or 20 bottles in the weeds along the highway,” he said. “You’ll even see guys throw bottles on the ground at truck stops with a trash can only a few feet away. It’s simply a matter of drivers being inconsiderate and lazy.”

The highway department plans to meet with Colorado State Patrol officials to draft a legislative approach to the problem, the newspaper reported. It might include adding a worker “endangerment” charge.